Stopping Traffic: A Human Trafficking Novel

By James H Morris

Police in Hunt, Nebraska, are working quickly to determine who is responsible for the increased number of missing children that have been reported. It has taken the detectives at the Hunt Police Department long hours to finally solve the case. Their findings, however, have been even more surprising than they

• Language: English
• Publisher: www.JamesHMorris.com
• Release date: Jan 23, 2022
• ISBN: 9781087927428

James H Morris

The author, J.H. Morris, is a retired IT manager living in the high desert country of Oregon. He has a knack for writing tense thrillers and suspense novels, but he also dabbles in penning a few psychological thrillers. Besides reading and writing fiction that is intended to entertain and amuse, he is also interested in creating stories that are intended to teach valuable lessons.

Book preview

STOPPING TRAFFIC

PROLOGUE

CHAPTER 1

CHAPTER 2

CHAPTER 3

CHAPTER 4

CHAPTER 5

CHAPTER 6

CHAPTER 7

CHAPTER 8

CHAPTER 9

CHAPTER 10

CHAPTER 11

CHAPTER 12

STOPPING TRAFFIC

A human trafficking novel

James H.Morris

[e-mail]

www.JamesHMorris.com

Second. Edition, 2022

© 2022 All rights reserved.

J. H. Morris Productions, LLC Redmond, OR

[e-mail]

PROLOGUE

IMAGINE…

In the morning, you open your child’s bedroom door and find an empty bed with the window left ajar.

OR…

Your child walks to school every morning. But this time, you get a phone call from the administrator saying she did not make it to her morning class.

OR…

You and your daughter are at the mall shopping for new clothes. She goes to the dressing room to try on the the items she has picked out—she never returns.

Where did they go?

CHAPTER 1

It is mid-day in Hunt, Nebraska, where Jeff Collins, the Assistant District Attorney for Johnson County, is about to present his Predator Prevention seminar to a group of women. Jeff tries to hold one of these classes every quarter. Still, there has been an increase in missing children lately, causing him to add this course. Jeff is a tall, skinny man that loves the fact he can tower over almost anyone. It made him feel as if he was more powerful than the people he would be communicating with. Looking down on others seemed to be in his blood as the Assistant DA.

As he is walking down the hallway of the city hall offices, he receives a text message. He stops to read who the sender is. A familiar woman approaches him from behind and startles him when she touches his arm.

Mr. Collins, she says. I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to scare you.

No, that’s all right, Laura. I was just reading a message from the boss. Jeff knew her from the meetings with the city and county. She has sat on the board of directors for years. She thought of herself as the savior of the county. While others could clearly see her hypocrisy and condescending mannerisms. People would often try not to laugh at her 1950s fashion choice and beehive hairstyle. But once you got to know her, you felt the decision to be bland and old-fashioned fit her style perfectly.

I just wanted to thank you again for having this seminar, she says. I know how educational they are for the public. Especially during these times.

My pleasure, Laura, Jeff replies. Anything to help our community stay safe. Will you be attending? Jeff knew the answer. She always had a reason not to take part in seminars that she believed to be for the common people.

Laura’s head tilted to the side. Oh, no. I’m sorry, I have a previous meeting that I must deal with. I will definitely try to be at the next one, though.

No worries, Jeff says. He looks at his watch. I need to be going. The seminar starts in only five minutes. It was nice seeing you again. He turns and walks down the hallway towards the auditorium.

He enters the room where several women have gathered. Jeff can hear the chatter in the air about the recent kidnappings and missing children. He felt this was the perfect time for a seminar to educate people about the dangers possibly lurking in the county.

In recent months, Hunt, Nebraska, and the other cities and towns of Johnson County has seen an rise of missing children. Mostly white females, ages 14 to 24. There has been such an increase, Adam Mosely, the District Attorney for the county, had started a task force led by Jeff to reduce the numbers. He assigned him to figure out why there has been such an uptick in these crimes.

Okay, Jeff says from the front of the room. Shall we get started, ladies? He takes a quick glance at the space and observed one older man is sitting in the rear of the room. Oh, and gentleman. Sorry, I didn’t notice you back there.

The man sits with his legs and arms crossed. He is wearing old clothes and no facial expression.

Sir, Jeff says, I gear this seminar more for the female public, but you are welcome to stay if you’d like.

The man says in a raspy and worn voice, I have three daughters who could not be here. I’m doing this for them.

Okay, that sounds great. Jeff is slightly concerned. Though he did his best never to judge people, this guy looks questionable. Jeff knew some predators attend these seminars to get educated on what their victims were looking for. Then they would adjust the tactics they use.

As everyone took their seat, Jeff is pleased to see the first row almost full. I’m going to pass this form out. I use it only for my records on who attended. There is also a place to enter your email if you want additional information.

The man in the back speaks up. Do we have to fill out one of these forms?

No, but the county gets state credit based on the number of people who attend, Jeff replied. All I need is the first half of the form. You don’t have to complete everything.

The man has a disgusted look on his face, which concerns Jeff. He is not acting as a father of three, but more of a man that did not want anyone to know he is there.

Jeff continues his class. First, let’s define what a predator is. He opens the slide show on the large screen that is set up on stage. If you Google ‘predator’ for a definition, you will get two responses. First is the animal that preys on another. Like a wolf is the predator to a rodent. The second definition: A person or group that ruthlessly exploits others. That’s the one we will focus on today. A hand goes up from one woman in the group. Yes?

Do you think these missing girls are being taken by a predator in our city? she asks.

That’s a good question, Jeff replies. We have no evidence of that. But we feel educating the public on these types of people will help keep everyone safer.

Another voice from the crowd speaks. Do you have any leads on the missing children?

No, Jeff replies nervously. Not yet. He is feeling as if he is in a press conference and not giving a class. I would like to stay on course and educate you on predators. If you want to ask specific questions of the missing children, I can do my best to answer those questions at the end of this class.

The man in the back yells, What’s the crime for shooting a son of a bitch that does anything bad to one of my daughters?

The question being asked by the strange man in the back surprises Jeff. I want to go on record saying we do not want people shooting anyone. Or hurting a person forcefully. If you believe you have a family member that has been a victim, please call your police department.

Jeff did his best to regain control of the seminar. The attendees ask several good questions, and in the end, he feels it was a productive session.

After the seminar, Jeff returns to the county office building and sits down in front of Adam Mosely’s desk on the fourth floor. He waits patiently as Adam finishes a phone call he is on.

Adam is in his early sixties and has an old man demeanor that resembled a cranky geezer that life has let down. When he smiled, it looked more like a scowl. Life had riddled him with several divorces and bad luck. There is even a group of patrons that believed he bought his way to the position of District Attorney, but they had no proof. Adam accredits his raspy voice to years of smoking cigars. Others thought it was from him yelling so much.

Adam gets off the phone. How was the class? He asks.

Not bad, Jeff says. It was a good turnout. There was one man there that I thought was odd. But he says he had three daughters who couldn’t attend. So, he was there for them. I did see Laura there.

Adam has a surprised look on his face. In the seminar? I thought she had a meeting with the mayor today to discuss funding?

No, Jeff replies. Not in the seminar. In the hallway before the class. She says she would attend the next one we have.

Good, Adam says. These seminars were her idea. She could at least attend one.

Have you seen her daughters? Jeff says. I don’t think she has anything to worry about.

Adam laughed. Let’s not go there, Jeff.

Sorry, I couldn’t help myself.

No worries. But, yes, I know what you mean. The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree, huh? Adam opens his notebook. Let’s get down to business, shall we?

Yes, let’s. Jeff pulls his laptop out of his briefcase and starts it up. He is more of the techie of the two of them, while Adam likes to do things old school with pen and paper. That irritated Jeff sometimes because it meant he had to print everything out for Adam. But a small task to do in the scheme of things.

Do you have the latest numbers for the state? Adam asks.

Yeah, Jeff replies. They’re up in the major metro areas. Our county saw one of the largest hikes. That concerns me.

I agree, Adam says. We’re going to have to level that off as best we can. I know it’s all about supply and demand, but we don’t want our county to get flagged as a high-risk area. It would drop the number of people moving here, not to mention tourism.

Speaking of that, Jeff says, I received a text message from the hub just before the seminar. They are looking for more inventory. Do you want me to hold off on that for now or provide them with what we have?

Let’s clear our warehouse, Adam says. We can always get more stock to give them later. But I don’t want our inventory sitting on the shelves longer than necessary. Speaking of that, what is our current inventory?

Jeff looks at his computer at the current numbers. We have a total of fourteen for the city. Forty-five for the county. All of which are in the higher price range. And then several others in the mid-range area.

Okay, Adam says. That should be good enough for us to push until next quarter to replenish. Just in time for the holidays.

Sounds good. Jeff types a few notes on his computer. We should get a reply by tonight or early in the morning at the latest, if they accept our offer. Do you want me to provide a discount if they ask?

Ten percent, Adam replies. But only if they ask. Let them know our inventory is low, and we have other interested clients. That should help us get the full asking price.

Alright, sounds good. Jeff looks at Adam. Is there anything else?

Yeah, Adam says. I got a special request. They’ll pay top dollar if we can get what they want by the end of the week. You think you’re up for it?

Sure thing. Jeff looks at the note handed to him by Adam. 16, huh? Extremely specific on their requirements. I’ll get a guy on it, and we’ll get this order taken care of.

Thanks, Jeff, Adam says. Hey, let’s do golf this weekend. I can make reservations at the club.

Promise not to cheat this time? Jeff asks.

Never, Adam replies with a smile.

Jeff laughs as he picks up his laptop and leaves.

In a quiet neighborhood of Hunt, Nebraska, Michelle Adkins is a sixteen-year-old girl in her bedroom doing homework. She’s upset that her parents will not let her go out tonight with her friends. She did most of her schoolwork, but the more she thinks about going out, the madder she gets at her parents.

They never let me do anything, she says to herself. She forewent the rest of her homework, gets on her computer, and finds a dating website. Before signing up, she browses through some profiles and sees many cute guys available. The site offers a free week membership with no credit card needed. She knows she would get in trouble if caught, but she does it anyway and signs up.

Her profile is about as dishonest as she can get away with. Stating she is an eighteen-year-old in her first year of college looking for companionship. The only actual piece of information she supplies that is true is the photo she uploads. It takes a few minutes before her profile brings in messages saying they are interested in meeting her. She browses through the first few texts she receives and finds one that catches her curiosity.

A twenty-year-old boy named Steve attends the same community college she said she did. His photo is cute, and she likes what his profile mentions about loving animals. She notices he is online and sends him an instant message via the website to say hi. Moments later, she receives a reply.

His message says he wants to meet her at a pizza parlor in town. Michelle thinks that is a great idea, but suggests If I’m going to sneak out, I would rather hang with my friends at Joey’s, a hamburger joint on the main street. They are getting together there to decide what they are going to do that night. Michelle feels meeting this guy where her friends are at would be safest since she has never met this guy in person.

Steve agrees and offers to pick Michelle up at her home. She does not want any chance of her parents seeing her being picked up by a stranger and offers to meet him at a street corner a block away from her home. Steve says he would pick her up there in thirty minutes.

Michelle knows she has to create a decoy to get out of the house. She thinks for a moment and comes up with a plan. She goes downstairs to talk with her parents.

They are sitting in the living room at the base of the stairs. Her dad is reading the paper while the latest mystery novel has engulfed her mom into the story.

Mom, dad? Michelle says, approaching them in the living room. I wanted to apologize for earlier. I know you are only trying to do what’s best for me.

Thank you, Michelle, her dad says. You’re right. We are only looking out for your best interest. You know we love you very much.

Her mom looks at her, Maybe next weekend, we can let you hang with your friends.

Okay, Michelle says. I’m tired. I’ve been working on my homework all night. I think I’m going to go to bed.

Sounds good, her parents say. Get a good night’s sleep. Love you.

Love you, too, she replies, turning to go back up the stairs.

When Michelle returns to her room, she arranges the pillows under her bedsheets to appear as if someone is sleeping in bed. She retrieves her jacket from the closet and her purse and leaves through the window. Escaping out the window down the trellis is something Michelle had done many times before. She thought her parents were not